In the transportation and logistics industry, “last mile” delivery refers to the final leg of the supply chain, in which consumer goods are delivered to their final destination. There are many challenges to making delivery to the final destination. Some examples include theft of packages if they are left on the doorstep of the recipient's home, having to schedule a delivery time with the recipient, having to skip the delivery and return another day, leaving the package with an unreliable concierge or roommate, requiring the presence of the recipient at an inconvenient time, or requiring the recipient to travel to a special locker or other designated location to pick up their package.
Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.